The Forms of the Dead
by Woodswolf
Summary: The ones who lost their way to the afterlife wind up on the doorstep of Zeniba's cottage. And there lies another lost soul waiting to help them. *Kaonashi and Ghost Children-centric*
1. Eyes

_(A/N): Hello everyone!_

_Well, I'm not sure how many of you were referred here by an author subscribe, or you were just snooping on my profile, or you were looking at Spirited Away and/or Coraline crossovers, or you were referred here by my crossover 'The Pamphlet' that I finished a few days ago._

_However you got here, welcome! Welcome, welcome, welcome! Congratulations! You may or may not be the first person to read this!_

_Oh, no, wait, __**I'm**__ the first person to read it. Because I'm writing it. Ha ha. Loser._

_*ends gloating moment*_

_So. If you want some information on it, this is Kaonashi (or, for those of you who don't really know his Japanese name, No Face) and Ghost Children centric. Neither of the 'canon couples' show up in this story. Zeniba makes a few appearances; Yubaba, Boh (Yubaba's kid - for those of you who can't read Japanese and don't like research), and the Yu-bird are mentioned once or twice; hardly anybody from Coraline shows up at all, for that matter. Chihiro is mentioned repeatedly (I hold on to the fact that Kaonashi/No Face - call him what you want; I like his Japanese name better - does care for Chihiro. While it may not be 'unrequited love'-esque, he does care for her. And then there's the fact that even though we never see her in here, she's... well, she's an 'important plot object')._

_Pretty much, if you're not exactly a Kaonashi fan, become one. Because he's the epikest character (what with him changing his form depending on what's inside of him, which is true on many levels), and in terms of 'Miyazaki Inside Jokes', you just _**CAN'T**_ beat 'Projectile Vomiting'. You should know what I'm talking about._

_So. I think that's it. Read, people!_

_Or not. I have a few things I want to comment on really quickly. Mainly dealing with my interpretations of things._

_First thing. The black shadow-soul things with the whitish eyes? The creepy silent ones that walk all over the streets and come up out of the river and run the restaurants? I interpret them as lost souls - those that couldn't find their way to their afterlife, whether they were hindered or just lost their way - that slowly rotted in despair and now are trying to be filled (which is why they have the restaurants) unsuccessfully, as nothing can ease their hunger. They're similar to Kaonashi in that sense._

_ Another thing. I'm planning on making the chapters for this one a great deal longer than most of my other chapters in other stories have been. While most of my chapters average five hundred words or less, I'm planning on making these weigh in at around one thousand each, probably. I know where this is going to end, but a lot of soul-searching and past-defining is going to go on before that. This is really just a short 'meet the characters' chapter played for laughs (you'll see what I mean... XD).  
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CHAPTER ONE: EYES

Kaonashi sat at the spinning wheel in the empty cottage, turning jade thread into yarn, for lack of anything better to do. Zeniba was out at the moment, tending to some 'business' that required her assistance at the Bath House.

He thought about the events that had happened there all those months ago - the first time he had seen Chihiro, the things he had done to try to get her to be his friend.

He had to admit, Chihiro had been his friend the whole time. She had been his light of kindness and generosity in the darkness of greed and despair. She had led him here.

Kaonashi was very happy living with Zeniba; he could help her with her work in and around the cottage, and Zeniba was kind and caring. Boh and the Yu-bird visited occasionally, when time would allow - every few months or so. Yubaba would usually come with them, but would leave shortly afterward - she would make sure that Boh was safely inside the door before leaving immediately to attend to her business in far corners of the Spirit World - and pick them up a day or two later.

A hint of a smile played on Kaonashi's masklike face when he thought of the time Yubaba had come running desperately through the door, screaming something along the lines of "HAS BOH BEEN EATEN? HAS HE BEEN EATEN BY THAT MONSTER?", only to find that he and Boh were playing a simple card game at the table while eating some cake Zeniba had provided for them. Yubaba still didn't quite trust him, but she hadn't acted nearly as paranoid for any visit after that.

Nearly lost in memories, he barely heard the barely-there sound coming from outside the window.

"Cold... cold... there's light... light..."

That's what it sounded like to him, anyway - anyone who might have been listening would have heard nothing at all.

He stood up from the stool and slowly walked over to the window. He looked outside, and could see nothing at all.

Nothing except three pairs of formless greyish-white eyes.

_(A/N): Isn't it just like Yubaba to panic over that? XD_

_I just **H**_****_**AD** to put that in. XP_

_She may be grounded in her fears (what with 'Projectile Vomiting'... and the fact that she lost 'a fortune' on him... and that he ate three of her workers... Hey, at least he threw them up later!), but I don't think there's anything to worry about from Kaonashi anymore :)_


	2. Warmth

_(A/N): Well, there isn't really much I think I need to immediately comment on. BUT... I think I might pull a reverse-blind poll. As in you don't know what the answers are, you just pick one and see who else voted for each one of them. The best part is the Celebrity Endorsements!_

_OPTION #1, endorsed by Hayao Miyazaki, has to do with *** ** *** *******._

_OPTION #2, endorsed by Henry Selick, has to do with *** **** ***** ** *****._

_**NOTE: **__No matter how much I would LOVE to say that I actually talked to these people and tricked them into supporting the two alternate endings of this humble fanfic, I have to lie. __**I did. XD**_

_So, pick and choose! This will be decided by how many people vote for each thing. So, pretty much, pick your favorite person, and vote for them. We'll see who gets more VOTES OF AWESOMENESS._

_Okay. The end, for now. I think. Of course, 'THINK' is a strong word. Especially when it comes to me._

CHAPTER TWO: WARMTH

Kaonashi knew what the creatures were. He had seen them, once, long ago. They were creatures, desperate to be filled, always hungering, but never being satisfied. They were the Empty Ones, the shadows that had lost their way in the dark to become lost and become nothing at all.

They were the dead.

What they needed was some warmth, some caring, and some way back to where they were supposed to go.

Kaonashi watched the eyes shift outside the window, waiting for an answer from him.

Zeniba, unfortunately, did not allow him to let guests in. Just as it guided them here, the enchanted lantern let the guests in when Zeniba was gone, few though they were. And, unfortunately for the poor creatures, the lantern wasn't going to let them in.

So Kaonashi decided to go out to meet them.

Even though he knew he wouldn't be able to get back inside - he had to be allowed in before he could go in - he decided to go out and comfort the shadowy forms outside the cottage.

When he stepped outside the door, he felt it magically seal behind him. And when he was outside, he walked up to the shadows and tried to find a good way to say hello.

_(A/N): So. Anyway, I've written the last sentence of this. And I have in my head the last chapter. There will be no epilogue for this, I can say that. But, from what I can tell, it will be a very long time before I am done with this._

_Sorry I've updated so late and left you with so little to read. The later chapters will be longer, but for now it's hard writing this stuff... I'm ridiculing myself that 'the whole thing is stupid and that even my idea for the OTHER Spirited Away/Coraline crossover (which never saw the light of day for a reason... I had NO idea how I was going to make it work) would be better than this thing'._

_Vote on the poll if you want to. But it's just for awesomeness points and kudos now, because I already have selected my ending. XP_


End file.
